LINCOLN PARK -- Metro Detroit witches are calling a letter sent to high school
parents discriminatory and uninformed. After being told by his staff that they've
seen an "increase in gang and or cult activity," Lincoln Park High School principal
Tom Kolka drafted a list of groups the district considers "inappropriate" in the
school.
Kolka could not be reached Tuesday for comment, but in the letter, he said the
district wants to keep "schools and students free from threats or wrongful
influence of any groups or gangs which advocate drug use, violence or disruptive
behavior." Witches, white supremacists and satanists were among the groups he
named. Kolka said black nail polish and vampire style makeup are undesirable
accessories to wear to school. So, he said, is the pentagram or pentacle -- a
five-point star sometimes enclosed in a circle that witches wear as a symbol of
air, fire, water, earth and spirit.
If worn, Kolka said, the symbols would be confiscated and an indefinite
suspension could follow.
His letter brought an angry response from some.
"We thought the administrators at the high school were suppose to be educators,
but this letter promotes ignorance," said Garden City witch Veronica Kuclo-Raub,
owner of Gundella's Witch Ways and Wares. "Kids need to be individuals.
Everyone is not alike, nor do we all believe in the same things. They should be
allowed to wear religious symbols. "Unfortunately, there has been a lot of fear
associated with witchcraft. But you would hope that in the academic environment
tolerance and understanding would be taught." Some in the district believe the
witches and other groups mentioned in the one-page letter are taking the district's
policy out of context.
"We've got to have guidelines in school," said James Hopkins, a board of
education
member. "We have a dress code, and I don't care if it's my own son, our policy is
our
policy. We never said that anyone had to stop practicing their religion or stop
wearing the
cross, pentagram or Star of David. "We are no more to the right or left on this
issue. We are straight up the middle and the rule applies to everybody. So there is
not discrimination. But we can not tolerate students dressing in attire that distracts
others from learning."
( A Mystickal Grove Editor Note: The problem is ... I didn't see Christians or the
cross listed above. Hmmmm, sure sounds like you are leaning to one direction )